The present invention relates to multi-channel retailing competition and, more particularly, to a simulation system and methodology to assist retail entities to make multi-channel business decisions dynamically.
Larger retail companies use multiple channels to sell their merchandise. Multiple channels include physical stores, web sites, catalogs, etc. The industry continues to invest heavily to sustain and renew these channels (e.g., global e-retail market size reached $80B in 2006). But multi-channel retailers are facing the challenges of how to make right strategies (price, service, etc.) to adopt the competing and dynamic multi-channel environment. Multi-channel retailing competition is very complex as:                1) There is complex relationship among channels, the channel conflict and channel coordination both should be both considered.        2) The market is dynamic.        3) There are multiple players: retailers from different competitors and customers in different segments.        
To make informed decisions, it is necessary for retailers to be able to identify channel influences and customer preferences according to sales and price history of different channels/retailers.